Chair



Feb. 11, 1936. N. e. HORWITT Er AL CHAIR Original Filed May 17, 1953 vINYVENTORS MORRIS KATCHER NAT/IAN GEORGE HoRw rr Patented Feb. 11, 1936PATENT OFFICE CHAIR Nathan Geom Horwitt and Morris Ratchet. New York, N.Y., usignorl, by memo assignments,

to Ethel Pincus, New York, N. Y.

Application May 17, 1933, Serial No. 871,436 Renewed August 1, 1935 8Claims. (01. 155-5.)

The main object of this invention is to provide a graceful, sturdy, andcomfortable chair, economical in construction and conforming to modernmethods and standards of manufacture, maintenance and utility.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chair which may berapidly disassembled and as rapidly assembled to function as a permanentarticle of furniture.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chair whose frameincluding arms and supports are made of metal forms having both therigidity and the degree of resilience requisite for full comfort.

A further object is to provide a chair with a rigidly held, but quicklyadjustable, back.

A further object of this invention is to provide a chair having an openand accessible construction without detracting from appearance andcomfort, to facilitate cleaning and repair.

A further object is to provide in such a chair a construction which willpermit rapid removal and replacement of the seat to facilitate cleaning,renovation, and the like.

Other and further objects and advantages of our invention will becomeapparent from the description, hereinafter, in connection with thedrawing, of a preferred embodiment of our invention:

In the drawing: I

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a chair embodying our invention,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, and

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the chair shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a detail of the adjustment of the back of the chair i r Fig. 5is a detail of the assembly of the frame and seat.

Fig. 6 is a detail, similar to Fig. 5, of a. modified assembly of achair having flat frame elements in place of the round ones shown inFigs. 1 to 5,

Fig. 7 is a side view of the detail shown in Fig. 6.

The supporting base and legs are formed, out of a length of steel ormetal of similar characteristics which may be easily obtained as a tube,rod or flat strip, to provide a'pair of supports l, l' at either side ofthe chair adapted to rest on the floor. At' the front the length ofmaterial is curved upwardly from I, as at 2, to provide the legs of thechair, and the legs 2 terminate in arms 3 extending backwardly parallelto the base elements I, l for a convenient distance. At the rear themembers I are connected to each other by the bar 4, the intermediateportion of the length of tubing out of which the entire supportingstructure is formed so that the portions I, 4, and I together form aroughly quadrangular base resting on the floor. It is obvious that thebar 5 4 may be omitted and the members I, 2, 3 at each side of the chairv formed separately; but the presence of the bar 4 subserves the usefulfunction of acting to prevent separation or spreading of the rest of thesupporting structure. 10

The arms of the chair are constituted by tubes or rods of steel orsimilar material bent into U- shape and set in a vertical plane, namely,the plane of the corresponding side I, 2, 3 of the support. The lowerleg 6 of the U (which may be designated generically as 5) extendsparallel to, above and in juxtaposition to the upper backward extendingarm 3 of the supporting structure, and may be held thereto by pins orbolts 'l passing through both 3and 6. The ends 3 and 8 are engaged andclamped in a sleeve 8, split as at 9, and having the edges of the sleeveproduced horizonta.lly inward as at It) and H to form a doubled ledge orflange. The seat l2 of the chair is provided preferably with recesses l3on its undersurface at either side of sufllcient size to accommodate theledge formed by flanges Ill and II; so that the seat l2 may be readilyfitted to rest upon and be supported upon the said ledges. Bolts l4passing through flanges l0 and II and entering the seat I! serve totighten the sleeve 8 by drawing the flanges l0 and II together; and tohold the seat l2 securely to and on the ledges formed by the flanges I0and II. It is to be noted that the sleeve 8 is suflicient to hold theends 3 and 6 securely together; but the pins 1 are provided partly as anaid to assembly and partly to eliminate the possibility of relative rotation of the ends.

In Fig. .6 and Fig. 7 we have shown a modi- 40 flcation adapted to usewith a support formed from a flat strip of metal. The ends 3' and 5',corresponding to 3 and 6 of Fig. 5, have their flat faces in contact.Straps running from side to side of the chair support the seat; and theends 3' and 6' are secured to the ends 25 of the strap'by bolts 30. Itis to be noted that the strap ends 25 are themselves supported and restupon the end 6'. The strap is bent down from the end 25 to form avertical portion 26 5 adjacent to the seat l2 and then continuedhorizontally as at 28 to the other side of the chair, so that thestraps, of which I have shown two as suflicient, though more may be usedas found desirable, form a cradle or frame to receive and frictionallyhold the seat l2. Bolts ll may pass through the straps and enter thebottom or the seat l2 as additional securing means, if desired. A guardor housing 2!, split at its inner side for an obvious reason, may beslipped over the ends I and O.

The back of the seat is formed of a padded or upholstered member I!having a substantially circular cross-section and provided withforwardly extending arms l6, l6, adapted to receive in channels orrecesses l'l the backwardly ex-..

tending arms iii of the U 5. The arms l6 and I8 are secured to eachother by means of the pawl l9, pivoted as at 20 in a recess on the underside of the arm 18, and having a nose 2| engaged in one or other of alongitudinal series of holes or notches 22 in arm ll. A spring 23mounted in arm l6 and operating against the thumb end 24 of pawl I9urges the nose 2| of the latter into engagement with the hole 22.

The arms l6 and I8 co-operate to form an arm rest which may beupholstered or otherwise treated or finished for a variety of purposes.The back may be a i usted by'releasing the pawl l9 and sliding theformer backwards or forwards along the arms IS.

The seat l2 forms a substantially independent unit and may be quicklyremoved, and as quickly replaced, upon the removal or insertion of thebolts l4, The whole chair may then be rapidly disassembled bywithdrawing the back l5 from engagement with the arms l8, slipping oil?the sleeve 8 and removing the pins I. Reassemlbly involves the samesimple operations in reverse order.

The preferred material for the base and arms is steel tubing of adimension suflicient to support the weight of the occupant of the chairwith only a perceptible amount of resilience. This slight give of thechair is necessary for full comfort. Where a higher degree of resilienceis desired we prefer to use the flat, spring shape shown in Figs. 6 and'7.

The structural independence of the backand seat, and of the severalelements of the chair, permit their removal for repair, renovation,reupholstering and the like. The open framework renders every parteasily accessible for cleaning and repair; and the constructionnecessitates only elements that are fully and completely functional thuspreserving in combination with simplicity of the structure the highlyaesthetic effect so desirable in articles of furniture.

We claim:

l. A chair comprising a seat, a support member formed with a backwardlyprojecting arm at each side of the seat, a back and arm rest mem-,oaopas ber provided with backwardly extending arms adjacent thepreviously recited arms, and means engaging and holding togetheradjacent arms said means having provisions for supporting the seat.

2. A chair. comprising a seat, a support for the chair formed withbackwardly projecting arms in the vicinity of the seat, a back and armrest member provided with downwardly and backwardly projecting armsadjacent the previously recited arms, and means comprising a splitsleeve receiving adjacent arms, and means cooperating with the seat fortightening the sleeve to clamp and hold the said arms together.

3. A chair comprising a seat, a support for the chair formed withbackwardly extending arms in the vicinity of the seat, a back and armrest member provided with downwardly and backwardly extending armsadjacent the previously mentioned arms, a split sleeve receivingadjacent arms, the edges of said sleeve at the split being flanged toprovide a support for the seat, and means cooperating with the seat todraw the flanged edges together whereby the said sleeve may be tightenedto clamp and hold securely together the said arms.

4. A chair comprising a seat, a support member provided with groundengaging portions and with'backwardly extending arms at each side of theseat, a back and arm rest member provided with backwardly extending armsadjacent the previously mentioned arms, and means secured to andextending from one pair of adjacent arms to the other pair of adjacentarms and providing a support for the seat.

5. A chair comprising a seat, U-shaped members providing legs andsupports for the chair and having the bights of the Us at the front,U-shaped members providing arms for the chair and having the bights atthe front, the upper limb of each leg U extending adjacent the lowerlimb of an arm U, means for holding together the adjacent extendinglimbs, said means having provisions for supporting the seat.

6. In a chair a back and arm member in the form of a U with forwardlyextending limbs, the bight of the U forming the back rest of the chairand the forwardly extending limbs the arm rests, supports for the backand arm member comprising vertically mounted U-shaped members havingtheir upper limbs engaged with the forwardly extending limbs of the backand arm member, and means for adjusting the position of the back and armmember upon the support members.

NATHAN GEORGE HORWI'I'I. MORRIS KATCHER.

